The Styrous® Viewfinder: 20,000 vinyl LPs 376: Meat Loaf ~ Paradise By The Dashboard Light

vinyl LP front cover

photo of album cover by Styrous®

On October 21, 1977, Bat Out of Hell was released by Meat Loaf. I already have an article about the album on the Viewfinder but it focused only on the cover of the album so it ended up in the "Just the cover, Ma'am" section (link below). This goes into more depth about the music and musicians.

Enjoy!

Meat Loaf ~ Bat Out of Hell

vinyl LP back cover

photo by Frank Laffitte

photo of album cover by Styrous®

Bat Out of Hell is the 1977 debut studio album by American rock singer Meat Loaf and composer Jim Steinman. The album was developed from the musical Neverland, a futuristic rock version of Peter Pan which Steinman wrote for a workshop in 1974.

There isn't a song on the album I don't like but, as usual, I have my favorites. At the top of that list is Paradise By The Dashboard Light, which has been described as the "greatest rock duet". It is actually in four parts, the first part is a man and a woman reminiscing about days as a young high school couple on a date. They are parked by a lake and having fun, experiencing "paradise by the dashboard light", until the young man insists they're "gonna go all the way tonight." But the girl says, "Stop right there! Before we go any further, will you love me forever?" After several repetitions of the question, he replies, "Let think on it!"

He does and reluctanly agrees. "Lord I was crazed and when the feeling came upon me like a tidal wave, started swearing to my God and on my mother's grave that I will love you to the end of time!"

The act is symbolized by the sound of a baseball game heard over the car radio with the crowd cheering and Phil Rissuto, the sportscaster, describing the action of the game emphasizing the action of the couple, all the while the man and the woman sing, "It never felt so good, it never felt so right! And we were glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife!"

Les Sonnetts - 1892

painting by Édouard-Henri Avril

Eventually, it devolves into the man singing, "So now I'm' praying for the end of time so I can end my time with you!" The woman joins this refrain for a duet and by the end of the song they are both singing "Well, it was long ago and it was far away and it was so much better than it is today" (complete lyrics below).

Karla DeVito & Meat Loaf

I think Paradise By The Dashboard Light is the most brutally honest love song ever written! I believe that is why it has enjoyed its almost 50 year popular longevity.

The four part song takes up the complete "B" side of the album which clocks in at a whopping twenty-three minutes.

Ellen Foley sang the woman's part on the album but Karla DeVito is in the video version of the song with DeVito lip syncing the Foley vocal. The two of them recorded a song referencing the adventure, I'm Just Happy To Be Here (link below).

I'm Just Happy To Be Here - 2021

Karla DeVito & Ellen Foley

A galaxy of musicians performed on Bat Out of Hell some of which were Max Weinberg and Roy Bittan from the Bruce Springsteen E Street Band, Kasim Sultan from Utopia, as well as Members of the New York Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Bat Out of Hell was produced by Todd Rundgren, and released by Cleveland International/Epic Records. It spawned two Meat Loaf sequel albums: Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell (1993) and Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose (2006) and has sold over 43 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time. In 2012, Rolling Stone ranked it at number 343 on its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. This year there was a musical made of the album (link below). They make musicals out of EVERYthing!

Meat Loaf ~ Bat Out of Hell

vinyl LP, side 1

photos by Styrous®

Meat Loaf ~ Bat Out of Hell

vinyl LP, side 2

photos by Styrous®

Tracklist:

Side 1:

A1 - Bat Out Of Hell - 9:48
A2 - You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night) - 5:04
A3 - Heaven Can Wait - 4:38
A4 - All Revved Up With No Place To Go - 4:19

Side 2:

B1 - Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad - 5:23
        Paradise By The Dashboard Light - (8:28)
B2-I - Paradise
B2-II - Let Me Sleep On It
B2-III - Praying For The End Of Time
B3 - For Crying Out Loud - 8:45

Companies, etc.

    Manufactured By – Epic Records
    Manufactured By – CBS Inc.
    Phonographic Copyright ℗ – CBS Inc.
    Copyright © – CBS Inc.
    Published By – Edward B. Marks Music Corporation
    Published By – Neverland Music Co.
    Published By – Peg Music Co.
    Recorded At – Bearsville Studios
    Recorded At – Utopia Sound
    Recorded At – The Hit Factory
    Recorded At – House Of Music, West Orange, NJ
    Mastered At – Master Cutting Room
    Pressed By – Columbia Records Pressing Plant, Terre Haute

Credits:

    Arranged By – Gene Orloff, Jim Steinman, Steve Margoshes
    Arranged By [Strings] – Ken Ascher
    Backing Vocals – Ellen Foley, Kasim Sultan*, Rory Dodd, Todd Rundgren
    Bass – Kasim Sultan*
    Consultant [Special] – Charlie Conrad
    Design – Ed Lee
    Design Concept [Cover] – Jim Steinman
    Drums – John Wilcox, Max Weinberg
    Effects – Jim Steinman
    Engineer [Assistant] – Cliff Hodsdon
    Guitar – Todd Rundgren
    Guitar [Motorcycle Guitar] – Todd Rundgren
    Illustration – Richard Corben
    Keyboards – Jim Steinman, Roy Bittan, Todd Rundgren
    Mastered By – Joe Brescio
    Orchestra – Members Of New York Philharmonic*, Members Of Philadelphia Orchestra*
    Orchestrated By – Steve Margoshes
    Percussion – Jim Steinman, Marvin Lee*, Todd Rundgren
    Photography By – Frank Laffitte
    Piano – Cheryl Hardwick, Roy Bittan, Steve Margoshes
    Producer, Engineer, Mixed By, Arranged By [With] – Todd Rundgren
    Production Manager – Sam Ellis (4)
    Production Manager [Assistant] – Richard Maiori
    Recorded By – Ed Sprague, Jimmy Iovine, John Jansen, Mark Thomas (19)
    Remix – Jimmy Iovine, John Jansen
    Saxophone – Edgar Winter
    Speech – Phil "Scooter" Rizzuto*
    Synthesizer – Roger Powell
    Vocals – Ellen Foley
    Written-By – Jim Steinman

Notes:

Orange labels. Issued with custom printed inner-sleeve with credits and lyrics.

Runouts are stamped except for T1 and the final digits which are etched.

Barcode and Other Identifiers

    Rights Society: BMI
    Pressing Plant ID (In runouts): T
    Matrix / Runout (Label A): AL 34974
    Matrix / Runout (Label B): BL 34974
    Matrix / Runout (Runout A, variant 1): P AL 34974-4AF 1T E3
    Matrix / Runout (Runout B, variant 1): 1T P BL 34974-3AF G7
    Matrix / Runout (Runout A, variant 2): PAL34974-4AA D 1T
    Matrix / Runout (Runout B, variant 2): PBL34974-3J 1T D
    Matrix / Runout (Runout A, variant 3): 1T P AL 34974-4AA C
    Matrix / Runout (Runout B, variant 3): P BL 34974-3BA T1 C
    Matrix / Runout (Runout A, variant 5): AL 34974-4G 1T
    Matrix / Runout (Runout B, variant 5): P BL 34974-3J 1T

Meat Loaf – Bat Out Of Hell
Label: Epic – PE 34974, Cleveland International Records – 34974
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo, Terre Haute Pressing
Country: US
Released: 1977
Genre: Rock
Style: Pop Rock, Rock Opera, Hard Rock

Viewfinder links:

"Just the cover, Ma'am"

Édouard-Henri Avril

Bat Out of Hell ~ lyrics

Richard Corben

Karla DeVito

Ellen Foley

Stanley Kubrick

Meat Loaf

Roger Powell

Todd Rundgren

Bruce Springsteen